Fig. 3

Bacterial community diversity and composition across rhizosheath–root system compartments and seasons. a Ordination based on principle coordinates analysis (PCoA) using Bray–Curtis dissimilarity for bacterial microbiota associated with root (RT), rhizosheath matrix (RS), rhizosphere (RH), and bulk sand (BS) compartments in summer and winter seasons (n = 56). Colours denote compartments, and shapes denote seasons (summer and winter). b Bacterial microbiota composition across compartments in summer and winter; relative abundance of the main phyla/classes (relative abundance > 1%) is reported as mean of replicates (n = 7) for each category (compartment per season). Taxonomic groups present with relative abundance < 1% are summed and reported as “Others”